Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important, and will be the most read, section of your business plan. Investors will read the executive summary first and will expect to get a broad idea of your business that will be filled in by the rest of the business plan.

An executive summary should be used to quickly describe your ideas and the reasoning behind your company. It will include the products and / or services your company will be offering together with a clear explanation of why you are different. It should also provide a short description of you and your key management team and set out the investment you are seeking and how you expect to pay it back!

Never forget to tell the reader why you need the money and how and when they can expect to be paid back! It will be the first thing they look for!

A good executive summary is essentially a condensed but powerful summary of your entire business plan. It creates a first impression in your reader's mind of both you and your business. Use clear and concise language; this applies to your entire business plan but it is especially important in your executive summary.

Use words that command attention, and that get your reader excited about the opportunity you are presenting.

Briefly describe:

if this is a new business venture or an expansion of an existing business or the purchase of an existing business;
the type of business activity in which you are engaged;
your product or service and its uniqueness;
the market to be served;
your advantage over the competition;
the main objectives of your organization;
your management background;
the investment needed and how you will pay it back.

Don't try to simply summarize every section included in the body of the business plan. It will come off as stilted and awkward. Summarize the most important points contained in the document, i.e., those sections that carry the most importance.

Certainly the most significant part of any business plan is its executive summary.

The executive summary is not an abstract of the business plan.
The executive summary is not an introduction to the business plan.
The executive summary is not a preface.
The executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

The executive summary is the business plan in miniature.

The executive summary should be able to stand alone, almost as a kind of business plan within the business plan. It should be logical, clear, interesting and exciting – if it does not sound exciting to you how will it excite anyone else? A reader should be able to read through it in four or five minutes and understand what makes your business tick. After reading your executive summary, a reader should know what you are up to!

Investors are searching for evidence that justifies the soundness of your opportunity, and that gets them excited about what you intend to achieve. If your executive summary is clear and concise, you are one step closer to impressing your reader, and on your way to a terrific business plan.

The following are several common mistakes that lessen the effectiveness of your executive summary:

Lacking a specific focus
Too long and wordy, and failing to get to the point
Trying to be all inclusive (it should be a powerful summary)
Failing to demonstrate a special or unique opportunity
Failing to outline the terms of the investment sought
Failing to generate enthusiasm in the reader

Some suggestions to combat these problems:

Focus on the opportunity you are presenting your investor and explain why it is special.
Make certain that the opinions and claims in your executive summary are fully supported in the other sections of your business plan.
Attempt to use only concrete facts and figures that explain your business concept, market niche and financial projections.
Don't forget to include the details of your investment (the amount you need, what you will spend it on, and the return you offer your investor).
Also consider who your reader is most likely to be, why they are reading your business plan, and the response you hope to generate.

The executive summary should serve several purposes, both for you and for readers of the business plan. For you, it should accomplish the following:

Set out your thoughts.

Since the executive summary is the business plan in miniature, it contains the plan's highlights, its key points. To write an executive summary, focus on the issues that are most important to your business's success, past and future, and set aside those matters that are tangential.

Set priorities.

The executive summary, like the business plan, should be organized according to the items' order of importance. Writing it forces you to pick and choose from among the many points you want to make in the business plan and decide on their order of importance.

Provide the foundation of the full business plan.

Once you've written a version of the executive summary, you've made the process of writing the plan much easier. Suddenly, you've provided yourself with a takeoff point for each section of the plan. The four or five sentences that summarize the means of making the product or providing the service give you the basis for that section of the plan. As we all know, it's much easier to begin writing with something on the page than it is to begin with a blank page.

For readers of your business plan, the executive summary is usually the first stop in the reading process.

Get attention and grab the reader’s imagination.

This is particularly important if you want your plan to help you get a bank loan or attract investment funds. But any reader should be intrigued with your executive summary. It intrigues readers most by conveying your commitment to, and excitement about, the business.

Make readers want to read more.

Bankers, investors, and financiers have more business plans to read than they have time for; they have to decide easily and quickly which ones to analyze carefully. The executive summary helps them make that decision. If you hope to obtain financing from the plan, the executive summary has to keep the banker or investor interested.

Otherwise, that person will not go further in the plan.

Convey the flavor of the rest of the plan.

Readers should have a good feeling about your business and what the rest of the plan will cover. The executive summary must succeed in capturing the enthusiasm and energy that resonate through the plan as a whole.

Here's what you may include.

Describe your business. The reader needs to first understand what it is you do in order for the remainder of the information to make any sense. Give them a brief, well written two or three paragraph summary of your business.
Show the reader that you understand the market you operate in. Describe it for them. Tell them about your competition. Tell them what makes your business unique or about the strategic strengths you have within your market. Tell them where you stand in your market. Are you the market leader? Second but trying harder? A new entry into the market?
If you are a new entry into the market, this section becomes even more important. If the reader doesn't believe after reading this section that you have a good grasp of the market, they will not bother reading further.
After describing your business and the market you operate in, it's time to tell the reader what you're going to do with their money. You need to convince them, very quickly, that their money is needed and do not be vague about why you need the exact amount you are asking for!
Provide the reader with full contact information for each individual that should be contacted if the reader has questions. Make it easy for them. Provide every address, phone number, fax number, cell phone number, or email address that might be useful to them for the individuals identified as contacts.

Mission Statement

Set out your mission statement, usually in thirty words or less, explaining the reason for being and your guiding principles.

The mission statement consists of three essential components:

Key market – who is your target client/customer? (generalize if needed)
Contribution – what product or service do you provide to that client?
Distinction – what makes your product or service unique, so that the client would choose you?

For example the world’s largest, and by far the most successful, restaurant chain has this mission statement

To provide the fast food to customers prepared in the same high-quality manner world-wide that is tasty, reasonably-priced and delivered consistently in a low-key décor and friendly atmosphere.

Do you even need to ask which company that is? A simple mission statement is the mission statement that works.

Company goals and objectives

Finally you need to set out your goals and objectives.

Goals are destinations - where you want your business to be.

Objectives are progress markers along the way to goal achievement.

For example, a goal might be to have a healthy, successful company that is a leader in customer service and has a loyal customer following. Objectives might be annual sales targets and some specific measures of customer satisfaction.

Business philosophy - What is important to you in business?
To whom will you market your products? Your target market? (State it briefly here - you will do a more thorough explanation in the Marketing section).
Describe your industry. Is it a growth industry? What changes do you foresee in your industry, short term and long term? How will your company be poised to take advantage of them?
Your most important company strengths and core competencies
What factors will make the company succeed?
What do you think your major competitive strengths will be?
What background experience, skills, and strengths do you personally bring to this new venture?

So choose your free executive summary for your business...

Good luck with your business..

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